The Commonwealth Times named a finalist for top student newspaper in 5-state region

The staff of The Commonwealth Times took home eight awards at each of the Virginia Press Association and Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence awards ceremonies Saturday, including a finalist prize for the Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper at the SPJ’s annual banquet.

For the second year in a row, the staff of The Commonwealth Times took home the first-place prize at the VPA awards in the Front Page and Sports Pages categories for the work of Student Media Center’s graphic designers Desiree Choe, Eric Ngo, Mai-Phuong Bui, and Ryan Rich.

First-place winners at the VPA awards included Copy Editor Jesse Adcock in the General News Photo and Feature Story Writing categories. Sports Editor Zach Joachim won first place in the Sports Writing Portfolio, a category in which former sports writer Nick Versaw also placed third. Illustrator Yewei Wang took home the second-place prize in the Illustrations category, Illustrations Editor Iain Duffus placed in third in the same category.

Joachim and contributor Megan Shiffres won Mark of Excellence awards in the Sports Column Writing and General News Photography categories respectively. Managing Editor Fadel Allassan was a finalist in the In-Depth Reporting and Breaking News Writing categories. Illustrators Jacque Chandler and Steck Von were finalists for editorial cartooning.

VPA Awards

First Place, General News Photo – Jesse Adcock

First Place, Feature Story Writing – Jesse Adcock

First Place, Front Page – Desiree Choe, Ryan Rich, Kim Peters, Mai-phoung Bui And Eric Ngo

First Place, Sports Pages – The Commonwealth Times Staff

First Place, Sports Writing Portfolio – Zach Joachim

Second Place, Illustration – Yewei Wang

Third Place, Illustration – Iain Duffus

Third Place, Sports Writing Portfolio – Nick Versaw

SPJ Awards

Winner, General News Photography (Large University) – Megan Shiffres

Winner, Sports Column Writing – Zach Joachim

Finalist, Best All-Around Non Daily Student Newspaper – The Commonwealth Times Staff

Finalist, Editorial Cartooning (Large University) – Jacque Chandler

Finalist, Editorial Cartooning(Large University) – Steck Von

Finalist, General News Reporting(Large University) – Fadel Allassan

Finalist, In-depth Reporting(Large University) – Fadel Allassan

Finalist, Sports Photography(Large University) – Erin Edgerton

Nia Tariq, Staff Writer

Fadel Allassan, Managing Editor